


Misery (I sure could use some company)

by ZXI



Series: many voices telling a story [2]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-28
Updated: 2015-10-28
Packaged: 2018-04-28 00:47:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5071450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZXI/pseuds/ZXI
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Vax and Percy share a moment, the night after Kerrion Stonefell's death.</p><p>Something Ive been working on since the streaming of 'Whispers'</p>
            </blockquote>





	Misery (I sure could use some company)

All too often, Vax'ildan doesn't know what to say. Vex has always been the wordsmith since they were children in Singorn, the silver tongue they needed to distract while he acquired the things they needed to survive soon after. The pre-planner and the strategist, to Vax's action and, in this most recent case, the leader of the kick-down-the-door charge.

And Percival - Not Percy right now, this is too serious, it requires the full name - his mental state has been declining for the last couple of weeks. With good reason, surely, but still cause Vax to worry. He's been in such a state of discomfort and distraction all day, and then at the residence of Kerrion Stonefell...

There were questions everyone had, and only one man to give the answers. The question was how. Presumably on both ends.

They're holed up in the big L-shaped tavern. Most of them are sleeping in the dirt-floored cellar, huddled around Keylith-as-Minxy and Trinket for warmth. Scanlan, Grog and Percival are all on watch. Everyone else is sleeping fitfully, but Vax hasn't been able to sleep since Grog came up and quietly relieved him of watch duty. Percy, it seems, refused to let Scanlan take over watch on the second floor. He hasn't returned downstairs yet.

Quietly, wrapping his cloak around him as much for stealth as for warmth and perhaps as a sort of security blanket, Vax makes his way up the stone steps of the cellar. Grog is within view, next to the window looking out at the square, but if he notices Vax he makes no move to react.  Vax spiders up the second set of stairs and past the bedroom where Scanlan is tracking one of the few humanoids skulking about across the square. The ropes, and the poor shells they suspend, sway in the heavy rain.

Scanlan does manage to notice him by some luck, holds up three fingers, and then jabs a thumb towards the wall he's leaning on. He's three doors that way. Vax nods in what he hopes is a grateful manner and moves on.

He finds Percival in a room just around the crook of the L, watching the rain strike the window and soak the tree outside. He's spread out on the dusty bedclothes and staring out the window at the effigy, or perhaps at the rain hitting the window, and in his lap he clicks the multichambered barrel of Pepperbox around. The names catch what little light Vax's darkvision can use.

Click. Anna Ripley. Click. The violent scratch where Kerrion Stonefell's name once was engraved. Click. Professor Anders.

He knocks just gently on the doorframe. Percival rolls his head against the wall to look towards him.

"Would you care for some company?" Vax asks. Percival nods; The tiniest sliver of moonlight poking through the cloud cover illuminates his stark white hair.  He crosses his legs and leans forward, off the wall, and Vax sits to face him.

"I've gotten you all into a fine mess this time, haven't I?" Percival breathes. He's looking back towards the tree. The red-painted bodies, in particular, are in view.

Vax places a hand upon Pepperbox and stills her maker's hands. "The woodpile may have been yours, but I'm the one who started the fire with my stupid stunt at the feast."

Percival laughs without humor. "Yes, that was quite stupid, wasn't it?"

They fall silent again, and Vax is reminded how rare his moments of eloquence are, and wishes that he could say something comforting for once. Instead, he notices Percival's hands trembling, most likely a combination of stressor and the chill the night and the rain have brought, and joins Percival against the wall.

The bed is narrow, but personal space is on the top of nobody's priorities list right now, and they're both a little cold, so Vax removes the Cloak of Elvenkind and spreads it across the two of them. Percival sets the List - violent gouge catching the moonlight - on the rickety nightstand and leans in. 

 The kiss is, as far as Vax's kiss experience goes, quite tame. It's more romantic than the Lets Get Out Of Here You Bastard by magnitudes, but almost as short. Their lips are both a bit chapped from the lack of water. It's not their first stolen kiss by any means, but without the urgency of having to stealth away from the party's prying eyes, it feels less like a pair of adolescents skulking about, trying to hide from their parents. 

Percival is the one who pulls up first, and for a moment he is Percy, distracted from the environment enough that he is present in in this moment with Vax fully, if only for a moment. And then he remembers, and he creeps back into Percival. 

Vax can see him trying to find words and failing. He knows the look well; the stare into nothing, the breathy sigh. So before Percival can say anything, Vax presses his lips to the white fringe and whispers to him, "Would you lIke to come downstairs? Trinket's concerned for your wherabouts, and he's quite warm."

"No, I can't say I do," says Percival, but he rises from the bed anyway. "Lead on."

Vax does, indeed, lead on; Down the stairs, they find Vex has relieved Grog of watch. She gives them a wave, and a Vex Wink, and Vax realizes that he's been leading Percival by the hand, so he rolls his eyes at his twin and continues down to the cellar. 

There is a spot between Trinket and Keylith where they huddle together under the Cloak of Elvenkind. Grog is snoring, head against Keylith's furry side, and Trinket is almost as bad, but Percival - Not quite back to being Percy yet - falls asleep almost instantly. 

Under the cloak, Vax grasps Percival's hand, and finds that he does not dream. 

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first part of this series I wrote. I wrote it largely in the space between Whispers and Stoke The Flames, so that episode mostly jossed everything re: where people were. I don't feel like rewriting though, so eh.
> 
> If you desire, you can share this with the cast and crew. I won't stop you.


End file.
